Alumni Chronicles Volume 1: Catching Up With Kimberly Sand

One of the reasons that we wanted to start this blog was to have the opportunity to share some of the stories of the people that shaped our team over the years. In order to do this, we thought it would be great to reach out to some of our most successful alumni and talk to them about their experience of being a jaguar and check in on how they are doing. 

The first subject in our series is Kimberly Sand, a member of the class of 2013. I met Kimberly on the first day of her freshman year of high school. She was in my (Coach Hershelman's) freshman geography class. Kimberly was the kind of freshman who was 14 going on 28. She had a great sense of humor, but she was also the kind of person who would stop me in the middle of a ridiculous story and ask me to get back to teaching.

Over the next couple of years Coach Sharpley and our former Assistant Principal Mr. Spinnato both pointed out to me what a great runner Kimberly was in PE class. Kimberly had a fall sport already though in the form of high level softball. Since it is in my nature, I always made a point to ask as many kids as possible to give XC a shot.

Kimberly at league her junior year.

After her sophomore year, Kimberly decided that she was ready to give another sport a shot, so I sent her a letter in the USPS inviting her to join the team. She did and the rest is history. Kimberly easily made varsity her first season. She had put in a strong summer, and it was easy to see that she was ready to take off. 

The two teams that Kimberly ran on were two of the three best teams in JA history. When Kim graduated, she left in her wake a legacy of excellence that is hard to live up to. She was an excellent competitor. What really set Kimberly apart though was her leadership as a captain. As a captain, Kimberly led in workouts, and at school. She operated as our team Mom, and our biggest cheerleader. Her and her co-captain Alexia (Chapman) led our team to places we had never been before.

Coach Hershelman: What made you want to join the cross country team?

Kimberly Sand: I didn’t really join the cross country team. I more stumbled upon the cross country team. I ran at a Jag Jog one year where I was approached by Hersh. I played one more season of softball after that and decided it was time to move on. I knew I wasn’t finished playing sports and decided to see what this crazy thing of running was about by joining summer workouts. From there it wasn’t about when I was going to join the team, it was about when the season was going to start.

CH: Once you started, what kept you going?

KS: What kept me going was the great people and competitive edge. The cross country team had so many great members that influenced my life in so many positive ways. I also liked that it was a sport that I didn’t have to rely on others for to be successful in. The individualist sense of cross country was different from the collectivism of softball. The coaches were also great. They were more than just coaches. They offered life lessons and created memories that are forever lasting.

CH: What other extracurriculars were you involved in besides cross country and track?

KS: I was a member of the JA Student Council group and National Honor Society.

CH: If you could do one thing differently in high school, what would you have done?

KS:I would have joined cross country sooner. I really loved the team and I learned so much from those two short years. I also would have taken more college credits through Front Range where passing with an B was a guaranteed three college credits and completely ignored AP classes where a college credits were only a possibility through passing a test.

CH: You ran on two of the three best girls XC teams in our school’s history, what were some of the things that the team was doing right?

KS: One of my favorite things about the team at that time was the rocks Hersh would take from trails or courses to give out for an “athlete of the week,” type thing. I still have my rock at my parents house and it was one of the best awards I got in high school. I told my mom when I moved out that the only way the rock leaves is if I take it.

CH: When you had a setback in running, how did you move past that?

KS: I had a physical setback shortly into running my junior year and the best way to move past it was to let my body heal properly. My times were poor initially afterwards but by the end of my senior year I was stronger than ever. That might not have been the case if I had continued running on an injury. The best thing to do during that time though was keep up with the team. Even though I was injured I would go to practice, participate in the core workouts, attend team dinners, and overall stay present.

CH: What are a couple of things that you think that a group of girls who want to develop great team culture should do?

KS: Girls should have each other's back no matter what. Put aside the stereotypes that are presented to young females about being “catty.” Instead treat each other like human beings with respect. Adults think they know everything about young teenagers and get caught up in classifying or grouping to come up with quick solutions. Break the stereotype and prove them wrong. This is a lesson to take with you for the rest of your life. I currently apply it to the workforce I am in now that is male dominant and I try as a leader to create a cohesive unit of women. I think I learned this from cross country. There were people on the team that I did not get along with but when it came to working together on the track or course we were able to set our differences aside.

From left to right, Heidi Wendt, Alexia Chapman, Marissa
Chapman, Kimberly Sand and Laura Needham.

CH: What was it like the night the girls team won the meet at Denver North? That was our first girls team win for our program.

KS: That was one of the best feelings that day and was one of the largest achievements I had made at that point in my life. I drive by that course when I am home on leave and remember that day. I will never forget how much fun it was to hear our team called upon. It set a great standard for the rest of the season and even though we had worked hard to that point there was still more work to be done. Having that win in our books is what pushed me to want to be better for the team.

CH: Your team your senior year ran really strong at regionals, but then state did not go as well, what did you think contributed to that?

KS: The team was technically very young. Most of us on the team at the time had only been running for two or three years.I think what contributed to the slow down at state was getting to state was our goal and that had been the goal all year long. When we got to state our coaches had standards for us but mentally I don’t think we were ever fully ready to run at state.

CH: In between cross country and track your senior year, you joined the girls swim team. How did that change you as an athlete?

Kimberly's senior track season was one for the ages. It
culminated with a trip to state in the 4x800 and a school record.

KS: Joining the swim team was one of the best decisions I ever made for my running career. I am personally not the strongest runner and my body needs breaks. Swimming was the perfect way to keep up my cardio but get all the weight off my legs. Swimming also kept the competitive edge going that an athlete thrives on. I would highly suggest for any athlete to cross train in their off season and possibly even one day during their current season. This is something that I wish I would have continued into my college career to prevent injuries.

CH: You are currently the school record holder in the 1600, and have run five of the ten fastest times in the 1600 all-time in our school’s history. What was it like chasing that record as high school was winding down?

KS: That year I really excelled in track and I wanted to go to state. Part of breaking that record was a step to get to state. While I never achieved attending state individually, holding that school record turned out to be the highlight of my senior year. It gave me the chance to run on the Metro team my freshman year of college.

CH: What was it like to make the transition from high school running to collegiate running?

KS: It was very difficult. The miles increased from about 40-50 miles a week to 60-80 miles a week. I was the youngest girl on the team by about 3 years and my coach trained me at the level of a 21 year old when I had just barely turned 18. I will never regret running in college but I would go back to train differently to prevent injuries from occurring.

Kimberly looked super cool in her
Metro State uniform

CH: Your college running career was brief, but it culminated in a trip to the NCAA National Championships. What was that season like?

KS: That season was the second best season of running for me. I went to nationals with the team, not as an individual, and I was very humbled. College running for a senior is much different than for a freshman. Some of those girls even had a red shirt year under their belts to age and get in a total of five years running at the college level.  

I would encourage anybody to run in college. Even if it was just for two years at a junior college and no matter how challenging it is.

CH: You are now serving in the United States Navy. How did running in high school positively affect your current career?

KS: Running is a mental sport to see how far your body can go to push itself. Somebody once told me that your mind stops your body from giving it all you got and to push past that block. I try to apply that to my career now and in really ever aspect of life. Running gave me the ability to work through many different and difficult situations mentally that I don’t know if I would have the maturity to do if not for running.

CH: Finally, do you have any last words of wisdom you would want to share with the current girls team?

KS: Run fast, then run even faster, don’t take this time for granted, and always stay true to yourself.